Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam, and the East Asian countries of China, Japan, Mongolia and the Republic of Korea, meeting together for the first time at Bangkok on 9 August 2007, adopted the charter of the Regional Forum on Environment and Health; have agreed upon the principles, vision, goals and objectives, strategies and structures set forth therein as the basis for their joint commitment to collective and individual country actions, and call upon their international partners to support the implementation of the charter. Sustainable development Sustainable development encompasses nurturing the environment, enhancing economic growth and social equity to reduce poverty, promoting the health and well-being of people and encouraging partnerships and cooperation among stakeholders and countries in the region. Without environmental and health protection, development is undermined. Without economic growth (essential to poverty reduction and improving the quality of life), protection of the environment and promotion of health will also fail. The Regional Forum's vision is to safeguard and enhance health and the environment, promoting development which reduces poverty. The interplay of health and environment and their role in poverty reduction needs to be understood and addressed. This can be achieved by a national approach that integrates the efforts of stakeholders in preserving the environment with the protection of human health and well-being. The regional forum also believes that national efforts for environmental preservation and health protection may be affected by development activities and environmental and health conditions in neighboring countries. Thus, greater regional partnership and cooperation are needed to address common interests and threats to the region. Goals and objectives The general objective of the regional initiative is to effectively deal with the environmental-health problems within countries and among themselves by increasing the capacity of Southeast and East Asian countries in environmental-health management. It aims to strengthen the cooperation of the ministries responsible for environment and health within the countries and across the region by providing a mechanism for sharing knowledge and experiences, improving policy and regulatory frameworks at the national and regional level, and promoting the implementation of integrated environmental-health strategies and regulations. Initiatives Effectively and efficiently achieve their targets in health, environmental sustainability, poverty and global partnership for development under the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Institutionalize the integrated management of environmental health at all levels within each participating country and among the Southeast and East Asian